Why Every Kid Should Get Their Hunter Safety Certification This Summer

Hunter safety is of the utmost importance when introducing children to one of our beloved past times.

When I was young and stupid, I made a mistake that wasn't nearly as costly as it could've been. Like most southern hunters, my family joined a hunting club. In the off-season we worked on roads, stand sites, food plots, etc. While visiting our south Georgia lease one weekend, our group participated in a clay skeet shoot with the rest of the club members. This experience encouraged me to enlist in a local hunter safety course.

We enjoyed ourselves. As a 9-year-old, doing something like this was all it took to spark my passion for hunting.

As everyone shot their fair share of targets, a club member recommended practicing firing at the clay targets that represented the action of a rabbit. I thought this was the coolest thing I'd seen since first picking up a gun.

However, I probably had enough adrenaline pumping to launch me to the moon. And, unfortunately, it got the best of me. The thrower launched a target and it failed, causing the target to break.

Everything after that happened so fast. The thrower cocked his arm at the same time my father reached down to pick up the partially broken clay, which was only feet in front of me. Unbeknownst to him, the thrower whipped the clay target in front of me, which I fired at and missed.

The cost? Well, at that moment I had to learn a grave lesson from my understandably angry father, who I'd just missed with my .410 load by no more than 1 or 2 feet.

I look back and remain thankful it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

To learn more about SafeShoot and how SafeShoot can help you avoid hunting accidents you can visit Safe-Shoot.com.